It's in the Blood
by Uroboros187
Summary: Something was definitely wrong when Sam and Jess found John in their living room and heard the garbled phone message. Now years later, he sees a young man who wears Dean's face but isn't and is pulled into a world completely different yet familiar. UPDATED!
1. Chapter 1

**Title- It's in the Blood**

**Summary- Something was definitely wrong when Sam and Jess found John in their living room and heard the garbled phone message. Now years later, he sees a young man who wears his Dean's face but isn't and is pulled into a world completely different yet strangely familiar. **

**Fandom-Supernatural/Dark Angel**

**Pairings- Alec/Max, Dean/Cas, Sam/Jess**

**Prompt- Freak Nation and Pilot **

**Rating- R**

**Author's Notes- Completely AU, a delicious mash up of SPN and DA to create a wonderful new universe where unicorns steal kidney's and ferrets sing musicals! Oh wait...someone already owns that one... Okay official line-**_**All publicly recognizable characters, settings, etc. are the property of their respective owners. The original characters and plot are the property of the author. The author is in no way associated with the owners, creators, or producers of any media franchise. No copyright infringement is intended.**_

* * *

**Chapter 1: You Know What They Do to Guys Like Us**

* * *

It's funny how four small words can completely change his life.

_"Your brother is missing."_

But then again, he grew up saying other four small words.

_"My mom is dead."_

He hated saying those words whenever he had to go to a new school, meet new friends, teachers...bullies, it all came together to form a disgruntled young boy who wanted nothing more in the entire world to be normal. A boy who became a rebellious teen who fought tooth and nail against the scruffy well built man who brushed off his worn jacket after taking his youngest son down to the floor.

Never mind that he had come in the dead of night with no warnings, though Sam knew he never would have called, never had in the two years since he stormed out of the house with his Dad's final words _"If you leave, never come back." _and Dean's angry, sad and completely helpless look on his face weighting heavily on his shoulders as he climbed the bus that would take him to California and out of hunting forever.

Funny how forever just got a hell of a lot shorter.

"Sam?" It took a lot of willpower to not groan out loud when he heard Jess' voice come from the bedroom. His Dad's eyes zeroed in on the young blonde woman, a slight frown on his face that quickly faded away to something akin to recognition that she shared a resemblance to the old pictures of his mom he saw when he was younger. To the only picture he had of her and his Dad sitting on the mantel.

"Dad, this is my girlfriend Jessica." He said in resignation, bringing both his world together for the first time.

"Wait, John your Dad?" Surprise came over Jess' face that quickly bloomed into a smile as she walked into the room and offered her hand. John took a moment before he took the offered hand and gave it a good solid shake, testing her grip and the strength in her shake before nodding in approval. It worried Sam just a bit as he watched them together.

"Nice to meet you." John said before clearing his throat and stepped back towards Sam. "I need to borrow your boyfriend for a bit, so if you excuse us." Sam bristled at his Dad's no nonsense tone as he dismissed Jess, from her own living room and brushed by him to stand besides Jess.

"No." he said, putting his arm around his girlfriend's waist. "No, if you have anything to say, you can say it in front of Jess." He held her tight against him, a united front against whatever his Dad was going to throw against him. John threw him an annoyed look before he sighed, "Your brother hasn't been home in a few days."

Sam, annoyed at his Dad for his attempt to dismiss Jess in their home, shot back. "So he's chasing some Miller time or tail, he'll stumble back sooner or later."

John's back stiffened and even Jess squeezed Sam around to waist in disapproval before he spoke, his voice colder, sterner. "Dean went on a hunting trip and he hasn't been home in a while."

Sam felt his stomach drop and Jess looked up at him, worriedly as she felt him tense up. She spoke first, "What was he hunting?"

* * *

When Sam first met Jess, he kept his family life and what he did growing up to himself. He gave her the bare essentials, his mother died when he was a baby; he had a father who he was estranged from and an older brother who was, when he was growing up, his whole world.

She accepted this because pushing for answers only made him quieter and sort of haunted. She hated seeing him like that so she dropped it...for a while.

Over time as they became more serious, he opened up and revealed to her the other life he had hoped to leave behind. The one filled with motels and fast food, five schools within twelve weeks, of being left alone for days, weeks at a time with only Dean keeping him company, sometimes not even that. Of the weapon training, the survivalist skills, stealing, lying and killing the demons-ghosts and every other creepy crawly that they had come across.

Of his Dad's obsession to find the thing that killed their mom and of Dean running himself ragged to gain their Dad's approval but never getting it just right. Of his place in the family business and seeing nothing but a bleak and dark future. He told her all of this in a rush, like a dam exploded and released all the water it held back. He expected for the truth to destroy the life he created and lose the girl he was in love with but to his surprise, it only made them stronger.

He watched Jess ask John the important questions.

_"How long ago did he leave?"_

_"Three weeks ago. He was investigating a series of missing, presumed dead me in Jericho California on a two lane blacktop."_

_"You let Dean hunt by himself?"_

_"He's an adult now Sammy. He does his thing and I do mine."_

_"Well now this, you-do-your-thing-and-I-do-mine could have gotten him in trouble or worst."_

_"Be nice." Jess nudged him with her elbow. "Did anything else come up?"_

_"Only a phone call but the message was garbled. I ran it through the Goldwave and got-something I didn't like."_

_"There was static wasn't there." John nodded. "What did it say?"_

_"Never go home." John turned around, his hand at the back of his neck, rubbing the base before he turned around, his mouth open._

_"I'll pack a bag. For the both of us." Jess said before he could speak the unsaid plead for help. Sam looked down at her, his own mouth open in protest but she shot him __**this look **__and he promptly shut it with an audible snap as she pulled away from him and headed for their bedroom._

He heard a chuckle come from his Dad and shot him his own glare which quickly faded away to a smile as warmth filled his chest. Yeah, he was proud of his girl, just like his Dad approved of her. Over the years, as they go through the pain, guilt and constant searching, he would come to realize that without her, the whole world would have gone to hell and he would have been lost.

* * *

_**Elsewhere...**_

* * *

A young man was strapped to a metal table, completely naked and heavily drugged as a team of doctors milled around him with instruments designed to probe, extract and inject while above them, a group of men decorated with military honors and titles would watch as the long sought project for perfect soldiers finally got the green light.

He would be one of many, as in other rooms on other tables; men and women just like him were being subjected to the same procedures that many would consider inhumane and monstrous as science took a huge leap forward in evolution. Many would die but a few would live to be used again and again and again...

And again...


	2. Chapter 2

**Author's Note:**

**Thank you everyone who reviewed, story alerted, favorited and all the other wonderful things you all did. Thank you!**

**I didn't think that there would be so many of you who would enjoy this read this. Wild.**

**So please enjoy this chapter and don't forget to review….it gives me the warm fuzzies…followed by hair pulling anxiety with the words '**_**crap now what do I write now?**_**' (No not really) **

_**All publicly recognizable characters, settings, etc. are the property of their respective owners. The original characters and plot are the property of the author. The author is in no way associated with the owners, creators, or producers of any media franchise. No copyright infringement is intended.**_

* * *

**Chapter 2: Wheel in the Sky**

* * *

The ride to Jericho was an interesting one, at least in Jess' point of view and one of the most important ride of her life as she listened with rapt attention to John as he explained the do's and don'ts and survival tips of hunting. A few times she glanced over at Sam, staring out the window with a stoic face before she'd turn her full attention to John. From what Sam had told her the year before, then she had just entered a world that required you give your all and then some. And she would, for the man she loved and the family that would be her own someday.

Sam wasn't blind to Jess' concerned glances or the detailed hunting techniques his Dad was giving Jess. It was his Dad's way of protecting someone that Sam loved...the way his Dad did when he and Dean were young. Knowing your enemy gave you an edge to stopping them. To protect yourself. The problem was Sam didn't want to be protected; he just wanted to be left alone. Jess was the most important person in his life right now and he didn't want anything to happen to her. As he sat up straighter, he swore to himself that he would keep her safe.

A few hours later found John alone as his two companions slept in the cramp cab of his Chevy, Sam sleeping against the window, his chin propped on his arm and holding Jess close to him, her head resting on his chest. They were a strong couple, one that would last through anything, face anything as long as they were together. He'd have to thank Dean for bringing this to light...whenever they find him.

Jess didn't say anything when he had told her that he scammed credit card companies in order to keep hunting. She frowned in disapproval until she did her own math when she saw how much gas the Chevy ate up as well as the food costs and later at the hotel when they ordered a room with queen sized beds. She didn't approve but it was necessary.

"Is this the only motel in town?" John asked as he handed his card to the man at the counter in Jericho. It had taken them all day and night but they finally reached the small sleepy town. Sam wanted to go straight out and find Dean. John wanted to set up a base of operations. Jess chose the between, acting as a mediator and suggested going to a motel to find information since it would be something Dean would do.

"No just the one most people use." the man with an off handed shrug as he slid the piece of paper across the counter for John to sign in front of him. "Why?"

"I'm looking for my oldest son. Last I heard of him, he was here in Jericho. Does the name Hector Aframian ring a bell?" John had chosen this motel first seeing that it matched all the credentials he used for hunting. It boasted a kitchenette, easy access to the highway for quick getaway and yet had plenty of ground coverage for hiding. Plus it offered Cinemax and magic fingers, always a lure for Dean.

"Sure, he paid up for the whole month. Haven't seen him for a while though." The man said, grabbing the signed paper and pushed it in the cash register. "He was looking into those murders out on Centennial Highway."

"Those missing men, right?" John said with a nod.

"Yeah, yeah. Said he was some kind of reporter or something cause he had an idea about who was behind all those killings. Of course the local law thought he was responsible for them, but he was kinda young you know. Called 'im whatcha call em, Copy cat killers." The man scratched his chin absently.

Sam and John shot each other a worried look. Ugh, imagine having to search through the mess that was Dean's living quarters, dirty socks in the sink and food that grew fur but despite that he knew to keep certain things hidden. What if the cops had found something incriminating? Dean wouldn't open his mouth against his family out of loyalty, feeling it would be better to find his own way out instead of picking up the phone to make a call.

"Don't know if they found anything cuz they never came back."

"Can we see the room he was staying in?" Sam asked when his Dad went silent, his mind most likely a million miles away. If Dean knew what had killed those men, then he would have already gone through the process of killing whatever it was. With his room paid up for a month, he'd just lay back with the magic fingers and waited for the next job to come to his attention. And he would have definitely called their Dad to tell him so.

"I guess I can." the man said warily, as he dug up the spare key and handed it to Sam. "Room ten, at the far end. Said he wanted some privacy though every time I came in the morning, another girl was just leaving. The night clerk would know more but from what I heard, he's never heard a peep from him or any complaints so..." He looked pass them out the window, bored from this conversation.

"Thank you for your help." Jess as she followed Sam and John out the door. The man nodded and went back to business.

Sam and John decided to check out Dean's room first as Jess went to their room to drop off their bags. After living with Dean for so many years, they thought they knew what to expect but what they found surprised and shocked them.

The room was neat and clean.

Like _neat_. And _clean_.

Nothing was out of place except the bed which was a mess with rumpled sheets and tossed about pillows. Dean, before he disappeared, had a hella of a night. His duffle bag was sitting on top of a nearby table, its zipper opened halfway but nothing peeking out. The blinds were opened enough to let plenty of light in and to see outside but impossible for anyone to look inside. The remote to the TV sat on an angle on the nightstand as if it were tossed there off handedly.

In the closet, hung a few shirts, nothing fancy and one of Dean's denim jackets, recently washed but still carrying the faint smell of mud. His boots sat casually below, also recently cleaned, worn and scuffed from all the activities that came with hunting. And behind all that, hanging on the back wall of the closet, sat the case of the week.

When Jess came to the room, she knocked and was let in by Sam as John was pulling out pieces of the case and setting them on the table, Dean's bag now sitting on the bed. She stopped as the door closed, getting a weird vibe from the room. Sam noticed this and stopped, looking back at her with a question in his eyes. She frowned, trying to place what she was feeling in words before saying, "It's been cleaned up."

John looked up at Jess' words, surprised at her for catching that particular detail. Suddenly a dark weight fell on his shoulders as the truth he was trying to deny came up on him. He had hoped that when they came to Jericho, they would find out that Dean was still here, drunk off his ass but here. But the state of the room, the fact that someone went through so much effort to make the room look lived in and yet _clean_ spoke of dangers he had hoped never came to his boys.

"We have to find Dean's journal." John stated, putting the last of the case on the table.

* * *

Like his father, like a lot of other hunters, Dean kept all his cases and facts of every creature and demon he had come in contact with over the years in a journal for safekeeping and future reference. He had started his when he was sixteen, after he faced his first haunting alone while their Dad was out of town on another case. He wrote it down word for word what he did to kill it-starting with what it was, the supplies needed and how to kill it.

Sometimes he added bits of his own ideas and tips.

Others he would make a crack against whatever he fought or the chick he rescued and his reward for saving her.

If it were a particularly rough, he added a title to the song.

It was the song that made it possible to know his feelings in the whole bit.

Sam had a feeling that Dean had added the songs for his sake, to help him understand his big brother without having to ask because he was certain that Dean was writing this journal more for Sam's sake than his own. Because while Dean didn't talk about his feelings, Sam did. And rather than alienate the already isolated young boy, Dean wrote in the journal and snuck it to Sam to read while acting like he didn't know. It brought them closer while they grew apart.

Now more than ever, as Sam searched the bathroom for any hiding spots, he wanted to read what Dean wrote. He wanted to know what Dean has said while he was gone, to hopefully get some clue about his whereabouts. Because Sam needed to know that his brother was ok and that he was alive. Dean had to-

He welcomed Jess as she put her arms around his chest and held him close; pulling their bodies close so no space was between them, offering him her strength and comfort. They stood like that for a wonderful minute before Sam pulled away with a heavy sigh...and froze.

Jess was on him in a second. "Sam what is it?" She had a concerned, alert look on her face as he put a hand on his arm.

When they were younger, Dean almost a teenager but not quite and Sam a mere boy who asked a lot of questions but not getting answers, they started this system. It wasn't something that they spoke about really but at the time Sam really appreciated it because it gave him something to look forwarded to whenever he got up in the morning to shower.

He leaned forward to the mirror, his nose an inch from the clean glass and breathed on it. He smiled when a word appeared partially on the surface and he felt hope again. "Look, Dean left a message." _for me_ was on the tip of his tongue but he didn't say it. After all, Sam did leave so Dean would have no reason to leave a hidden message on the mirror...except he did.

As Sam breathed on the mirror to get the whole message, he wondered just how many mirrors Dean had left a message on never to be read and he felt his throat tighten just before he felt he couldn't breathe as the message appeared.

"Leave me. Journal for Sam. Vent." After the message an arrow pointed at an angle in the mirror to a vent in the room behind them. Sam turned with Jess and walked out of the bathroom to stand under the air vent.

"Dad, I need a table." Sam said. John looked up from the ground, searching the bed for any hiding spots.

"What's going on Sammy?" John asked.

"Dean left a message on the mirror." Jess answered, pointing to the bathroom. "We think he hid his journal up here." he pointed to the air vent as John joined their side, looking up at well. Though the room wasn't very big height wise, no one would suspect Dean in hiding his journal in a so out of reach place, especially if he needed to leave quickly.

John pulled the table over for Sam and he climbed up, removed the vent covering and reached his long arm inside, scrunching his face up as he reached blindly and felt nothing. His heart was pounding when he pulled his hand out and wiped his hand absently before turning around and put his arm in on the other side. He felt it stop as he felt the leather binding and grabbed it with the tips of his fingers before he brought it all the way out.

It had a thin layer of dust on it, from having sat in the vent for a while, most likely a day or two before John noticed that Dean hadn't called and a few days after when he realized that something was wrong. Two days before he decided that he needed to get Sam and a day after Sam and Jess were in the cab of the truck with him heading north to Jericho.

Jess gave Sam a tight squeeze as he looked at the journal in his hands before going to kneel in front of John, who sat on the edge of the bed, looking down at the floor as lost as any parent who is missing a child. It had only been a day since they first met but she had already adopted calling John Dad and she hadn't even met Dean but she felt his loss as keenly as everyone else.

"...we'll find him." she whispered to him, holding one of his hands in hers. Empty promises to their ears, but Sam knew that Jess believed them with her whole heart and more than likely would keep that belief until Dean was found or until the rest of her days. Because she couldn't stand to see the pain and despair in the eyes of this broken family that kept losing members of itself.

* * *

They found the Impala parked on the side of the building, hidden out of sight but the tank full of gas ready to go. Sam thought he never seen a sadder sight when he put all of Dean's belongs from the hotel room in the back seat, his jacket folded over the duffle bag and his boots sitting besides them. Jess and his Dad were waiting for him nearby, watching him from the cab of the truck, their windows rolled down.

Jess offered to ride with him but Sam shook his head and told her to stay with his Dad, saying that he needed some time to think as they head east towards Bobby's. John and Bobby may have had a falling out some time ago but he had a junk yard and both Sam and John knew that the Impala would be well kept and safe until Dean came by to pick it up. He opened the driver's door, rolled down the window and put the key in the ignition before turning it on.

The loud rock music surprised him, making him jump and as he quickly fumbled with the knob to lower the volume, he laughed. He looked over to see that Jess and John had seen the whole thing and were laughing with him. He laughed until his sides ached and he had trouble breathing with tears running down his eyes before he was able to get control of himself.

Leaving the music on so high was such a Dean thing to do. Sam welcomed the warm memory, thinking that if Dean were here, he would have been laughing his ass off at Sam's expression before he switched gears and followed the truck out of the parking lot and on the highway, the music loud enough for passerby's to hear, _"I don't know where I'll be-for tomorrow."_


	3. Chapter 3

_AN: Look! A new chapter! I'm back after a verrry loooonng HIATUS with this story. Please accept my apologises for the break. I would like to thank **EVERYONE** who reviewed, alerted and favorited this story and for waiting._

**Disclaimer: I do not own Supernatural or Dark Angel. They belong to their respective owners and companies.**

* * *

**Chapter 3: Sound of Silence**

* * *

The rickety old screen door opened, creaking on its springs before slamming shut as Sam exited Bobby's house, letting out a loud sigh in the night air. It had been a really long day. The drive itself had been long and tiresome, him alone with his thoughts and Dean's cassette tapes playing quietly and sometimes not so quietly as they drove farther away from the last place Dean had been seen.

But his Dad was right. There were no more clues in that town and whoever had snatched Dean had been pretty through in cleaning up after themselves. Best thing to do now was to regroup and come up with a new kind of plan.

Bobby, Sam knew, would help them. And it would be a good place to keep Dean's car until he swung by to pick it up again. At least, he rubbed the tense muscles at the back of his neck, John and Bobby hadn't shot each other full of holes yet...again.

Wasn't for a lack of trying on Bobby's part. He came out of the house brandishing a loaded shotgun, with real buckshot and not rock salt with the meanest face Sam had ever seen. Lucky for John, years of hunting had given him quick reflexes and he ducked as Bobby fired a shot at him.

"Goddamn it Robert Singer!" John cursed as he ducked another shot.

"I damn you a fool for coming back here John Winchester!" Bobby yelled, coming down from the porch and took aim. John took this as sign to run, forcing Bobby to run after him, leaving behind two very confused and worried college students.

Sam held back Jess, shaking his head and told her that this was something the two old men needed to get out of their system. He took her to the porch where they met up with old Rumsfeld, Bobby's guard dog. Jess petted and cooed over him before John and Bobby came stumbling back to the house, looking worst for wear but alive.

Jess looked up at Sam who shrugged and followed the men inside the house where they got down to explaining to Bobby why they've come. That was over three hours ago. Jess was in the kitchen, cooking up a little bit of something. Bobby offered to help since it was his kitchen but she shooed him out, telling him that since he was going to let them stay for a bit that cooking dinner was the least she could do to repay him.

_And besides, _she told him, _didn't he have phone calls to make?_

Bobby was doing that right now, looking through his little black book and putting the word out about Dean's disappearance. Also to put out a little warning.

Before they had left Jericho, they stopped for a bite to eat and ask around about Dean. A waitress at the diner had told them that she had seen Dean the morning before he disappeared. They had flirted and talked and made plans to meet up after her shift. He left after his meal and what she had assumed were his friends left right after he did.

But he didn't show up like he said he would.

She was a bit sore about it but passed it off as his loss. When Sam questioned her about his friends, he found out that three men in suits had been eating at a booth not far from Dean, though not really eating because all they ordered was coffee and refills. She could swear that one of the men had called the older gentlemen _'Colonel'_.

Dean had been wearing a suit that morning, probably pretending to be FBI or something before the cops got suspicious. The theory bouncing between them was that Dean had caught someone's attention and got grabbed.

John was in the house right now calling up old military contacts, pulling in favors from people still in the military or who had contacts inside. He had firmly decided that whoever grabbed Dean couldn't have been the military he served in. No, this was something more, something sinister.

Giving out a fair warning to other Hunters to be on alert was the least they could do. Maybe one of them could bring back a bit of news they could use.

"Sam?" He turned to see Jess come out to the porch and he held her in his arms as the toll of the last few days fell on his shoulder, heavy and almost too much to bear. But he wasn't alone in this. Jess was there to support him. His Dad was suffering the same as he was. Bobby was there helping out. "We'll find him. I know we will."

Sam pressed his lips against the top of Jess' head before he pulled back to look her in the eyes. "I love you you know that?"

Jess smiled and leaned up to kiss him. "And I love you too. Come on, dinner is ready."

"I'll be a minute." Sam said.

"You sure?" Jess asked, stepping towards the door with her hands still holding his.

"Yeah. I just-like the silence out here." Sam said with a small smile. "Just a minute."

Jess let got of his hands and walked back into the house, leaving Sam alone with his thoughts. He took a deep breathe, held it for awhile before he let it out in a long sigh. True to his word, a minute later, he walked into the house to join the others for dinner.

* * *

The next morning, they continued to put out word about Dean and his kidnapping before they ran dry of all the contacts John and Bobby had. Now it was a matter of waiting for feedback.

Sam used this time to introduce Jess to the basics of hunting with help from Bobby. John remained in Bobby's library, going through clues and Dean's journal, looking for the final moments. Sam had combed through the journal already but John wanted, no _needed,_ to see for himself what they already knew.

Dean was hunting a White Lady and he finished the hunt. Anything that happened after that, was a mystery.

By sunset, Jess learned the basics of gun control and targeting, drawing devil's traps and identifying sigils of different religions that proved useful in hunting various monsters and creatures and ghosts. Sam was going through the motions and testing out his reflexes in preparations for hunting down Dean.

By sunset, John had found a new hunt up north that he came to the duo and said that needed to be checked out. Sam of course, saw this as giving up on Dean.

"We just learned that Dean had been kidnapped and now you want to go on a hunt?" Sam yelled at John. "Are you that heartless?"

"Sam!" Jess said shocked.

"Listen, I understand that you're upset-"

"Yeah. Damn right I'm upset!" Sam agreed.

"But we have run out of options to find Dean. I've gone through all the contacts I know. Bobby has too. There's nothing for us to do right now expect wait." John said to Sam. "Now I refuse to sit and wait for the phone to ring when we can be out there doing what I raised you to do. Hunt down monsters."

"We should be out there, looking for Dean!" Sam protested.

"And where would you like to start?" John asked. "Give me a destination. Give me a direction. Tell me, where in the entire North American continent could we start looking? Do you know? Can you give me a clue that I missed where we can start? Tell me, what do you have exactly that I don't know!"

"Hey!" Bobby slammed his book down on the table, startling everyone. "If you boys want to fight, take it outside!"

Sam and John turned away from each other, giving the other a few minutes to calm down before John spoke, his voice softer but just as firm. "Sam. I won't give up on Dean. He's my son, just like you."

"But I can't wait around doing nothing. If anything, hunting will keep my mind off of Dean and what he could be going through. I can't do anything to help him. Hunting is something I can do. I'm leaving in the morning. I hope you and Jess can join me." John walked outside.

The next morning, Bobby's house was quiet as outside, John's truck drove out with three passengers.

* * *

He was being dragged, feet sliding across the cold concrete of the floor as the guards pulling him, walked down the long gray hallway. Identical doors with locks on the outside and numbered from X-3 100-125 slipped into his groggy vision before fading.

The next time he gained a sense of self, he was thrown into a cell, landing with a groan and a pain in his left arm. He hissed in pain as he pushed himself up with his right arm, making sure to keep pressure off the left.

It wasn't broken, bruised definitely, his punishment for fighting while on the table. But he didn't regret it. He was sure the doctor that was working on him would think twice about coming at him with latex gloves looking to take samples. He grinned before grimacing as he pushed himself up to a sitting position.

A whimper from the far corner drew his attention and he went stiff.

The other figure, a man he noticed, was crouched, dressed in white scrubs just like himself, his head shaved and wore a bright red medical bracelet on his wrist. The same that he wore on his. So that must mean, that the guy was another test subject just like him. Like the others...

Poor bastard.

He could hear the other man praying, "Please God, help me. Please God, take me home."

He repeated this prayer over and over, almost chanting before he was interrupted. "Hey man, can you cut it out for a second?"

He flinched.

"Look, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to scare ya. It's just-my head is ringing. I can do with some peace and quiet before I'm taken back to the table."

It was quiet for a long while before the other man spoke, his voice soft and wavering in fear. "Why-why are they doing this?"

"Because they're sick as fuck assholes."

"I need to get home. My-my wife will be worried. I have to get back to her, we've only just been married." The man looked up from his hands, his bright blue eyes wide with tears.

"What's your name?"

"Jimmy. My name is Jimmy Novak."

"Hello Jimmy. My name is Dean Winchester." Dean offered Jimmy a confident smile. "I want to tell you something all right?" Jimmy nodded. "I got a family too. And let me tell you, once they find out that I'm missing, they'll come for me. And they won't stop until they find me. Okay? So stay with me. We'll get out of here."

Jimmy gave Dean a small smile, wiping away his tears and helped Dean to one of the cots the place had kindly supplied. Dean laid back on the cot with a sigh, his body aching from all the tests he's been through. He closed his eyes and turned away from Jimmy who took the other cot and let his true face show.

No one was going to come for him. John was too busy hunting down monsters and ghosts to notice that he was gone and Sammy was away at college living his normal life. And even if they did, they wouldn't drop everything to come after him, especially if they found his journal that warned them to stay away. Which was probably sitting back in the vent he hid it in before he was grabbed, collecting dust.

But he couldn't let that Jimmy guy know that.

So he closed his eyes and fell into a fitful sleep that was broken three hours later as more guards came in and grabbed both him and Jimmy for more experiments.

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**AN: Didn't I say I wanted to thank people? Yes I did.**

**/kayter, Omorocco, Silvertayl 57, WolfAngelDeath, CatishAngel07, nexus432, annc, BranchSuper, Adorkable Panda, timetowaste247, smartasssmusicjunkie94, Dark-Supernatural-Angel, RandomImagination, electricgurl, BitterIcing, Chibitalia, throwerpro/**

**Thanks for all the reviews!**


	4. Chapter 4

_AN: After a looooong hiatus, I'm back with a new chapter. Please forgive me for the EXTREME lateness! Thanks to every~one for all the favorites and story alerts and the reviews.  
_

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**Disclaimer: I do not own Dark Angel, Supernatural or any of the characters.**

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**Chapter 4: Time  
**

* * *

It's a cold, wet and dark on this lonely back road in the middle of Nowhere, USA and it grates on the nerves of couple waiting here. The man is outside of the car, a sleek black Impala that he had been driving for a couple of years now, dressed in a heavy cotton coat with a maroon hoodie pulled over his long hair. He is leaning against the hood with his hands tucked deep in his coat to warn off the cold as he lets out a puff of frosty air.

"Damn it where is he?" he grumbles, mostly to himself but nothing gets pass the woman, who is sitting in the car with the window rolled down.

"You know John," the woman said, leaning her head out the window. "He'll get here when he gets here. Calm down Sam."

"Come on Jess, you heard him on the phone." Sam said, leaning down to look at his wife of fifteen years. "He sounded-strange."

"You can't know that. We haven't seen John for over three years. Not since you and him had that falling out." Jess said, reaching up to brush his hair back from his face, her fingers running over the scar that hid at his hairline. She pulled her hands back to keep him from seeing them tremble, but Sam knew better and pressed a kiss to her lips.

"Yeah I know." Sam said against her lips. "But at least he doesn't-"

The quiet air was broken as the rumbling of a truck could be heard coming up the road. Sam pulled back from Jess and straightens up as he put a hand in his pocket, this time his fingers curling around the gun he kept on him. Jess did the same, her fingers reaching for the cut off shot gun that sat next to her in the car, pulling it on to her lap.

The truck, an old lifted Chevy, came to a stop behind the car, its headlights shining to show both Sam and Jess and the Impala. Making sure that this wasn't a trap, Sam guessed with a hand up to shade his eyes from the light. A second later, the engine shut off but the light remained on

A man climbed out of the driver's seat and stopped in front of one of the headlights, casting a large shadow on the Impala while hiding his face. A few seconds went by before he walked forward and they could see his grizzly face with a peppered beard and deep lines around his dark alert eyes.

"Hello Sam. Hello Jess." he greeted.

"Hello John." Jess greeted as she climbed out from the car as Sam said nothing. She really hoped that it would end up in another fight between those two but it didn't look to good right now. Both men were stubborn as hell.

"You look-the both of you-look pretty good. How are things going?" John asked, trying to break the tension in the air.

"Thank you." Jess answered when Sam refused to speak. "We're doing great. A few cases here and there." She added; it looked like she would be the one talking.

"Yeah. I heard about that case in St. Louis. A shapeshifter huh?"

"Yeah. We had to lay low for a while there but it worked itself out, thanks to a friend of ours in the FBI." Jess said with a smile.

"Good. That's good." There was a pause and unbelievably the tension grew heavier. "How are the ki-"

"Stop right there." Sam interrupted sharply and Jess looked up at Sam with a slight frown on her face. "You called us for a reason. What is it?"

John bit the inside of his cheek to stop himself from snapping at Sam. Jessica on the other hand, hit him none too gently in the stomach, making Sam grunt and turn wide eyes to her. She gave him a dark look. She had forgiven John a long time ago, so why did he still bear a grudge? Wasn't she the one most affected by John's rather impulsive and dangerous action?

"That's enough Sam." she said, pushing open the car door to stand toe to toe with him. "John called us for a reason after years of no contact what so ever because you told him too." That wasn't completely true, but Sam didn't need to know that. What he doesn't know, won't bother him. "He has something he wants to share with us-" She turned to John, her arms crossed. "And that has to do with Dean...doesn't it?"

Sam's mouth lost its frown and gaped at John. Can it be true? Did John find a clue that would re-ignite the long since cold trail that has for years occupied his mind? Could he quiet the demons that taunted him year after year of claiming that Dean is dead, that Dean is suffering, that Dean is cursing his name for the torture they are putting him through? Have they finally found him after all this time?

"I need you to come with me." John stated.

"Where?"

"To Seattle."

* * *

It's been years since any of the Winchesters had been to Seattle. Not since the Pulse when a group of terrorists detonated an electromagnetic pulse weapon 80 miles in the atmosphere and wiped out majority of the computer and communication systems. It threw the country into utter chaos as people soon realized that there was no immediate solution to the problem. Since all monetary transactions and business deals were monitored by computers, the database was wiped clean and people lost all their money.

America quickly went from super-power to third-world country in a matter of days.

Lucky for the Winchesters, not so for the rest of the country, John had been taking out money in large increments for years and had passed that paranoia of banks stealing money from honest hard working folks, which they were since hunting monsters was hard work though not so honest, to Jess. She had been taking out large sums of money from her account for months when the Pulse hit.

It was a very good thing, because with her money and John's hidden stashes placed all around the country, they had continued to function and hunt and continue their search for Dean when everything fell apart.

The last time they were in Seattle, it was before they put itself under martial law and made its city into sectors to better control the population from rioting, looting and running amuck like a few unlucky major cities had back east to hunt down a rather nasty poltergeist that was terrorizing an apartment building. They got out before the lockdown and never looked back.

But now anything you heard about Seattle was about the monsters, human-looking and the obviously not-human-looking ones, had been using the city as their home base. Manticore soldiers created and trained by some back door government program or such. All Jess knew really is that people really didn't like them in their city or the fact that they were alive at all.

So far the hunter community had given them a wide berth because of all the publicity they seemed to gather and the fact that even though they looked like monsters, there were worst ones out there that needed to be killed now. And so far, no one had proven them to be demons so that was a strike in their favor.

John's truck slowed to a stop in front of some rundown office building, though admittedly, it looked a sight better than a few others she saw pass by but not by much. Sam parked the Impala right behind him, checking the area for any suspicious activity. If anything, he wanted to be sure that no one would steal or break into the car that Dean loved so much. It was dirty, wet with rain and the back window was practically impossible to see through and the rims were mismatched and the tires worn around the edges but he knew that with a few hours of tender love and care, that it would be back to its prime condition.

It would be something, Sam knew, Dean would happily work on when they got him back.

"Sam?" Jess' soft tone broke through his thoughts. Her brows were turned down in a worried look.

"I'm sorry. I just-" Sam sighed, trying to put what he was feeling into words. "I don't have any gray hair do I? I mean, this is just-it's been so long since Dean disappeared and since we hit a brick wall with no clues, no ideas, nothing and now..."

Jess nodded in understanding. She had been thinking that the search for Dean would be going on until they were old and gray. Sometimes, no matter how hard or how long you searched, you would never know the truth of what really happened to the ones who disappeared. Sometimes, families just had to accept that they would never know. But most families weren't the Winchesters.

She leaned over and pressed a soft kiss to his lips, brushing her fingers through his hair and ran them down his cheek to his rest under his chin. She leaned her forehead against his after the kiss, just to breathe in the same space of air that he did. They needed this moment of peace.

After a moment they broke apart and climbed out of the car.

* * *

Alarms triggered in the early morning were a huge pain in the ass, Max decided as she quickly made her way to the command center. Alarms triggered two hours after you managed to fall asleep after a day of making decisions that affected an entire nation of tightly wound soldiers blockaded by trigger happy humans who wanted to see you dead made her want to hang the head(s) of whoever triggered the alarm in command like a trophy.

Yes she was in a bitchy mood.

So sue her.

She pushed through the gathered crowd of her fellows that had managed to pull themselves from their beds to gawk at the scene in front of them and decided that she didn't really want to deal with whatever this was and make Alec or Zack handle the big crisis and she could go back to sleep.

But since it was her, of course her luck didn't go that way.

When she finally got through, pushing and shoving her way through, she finally got a look and groaned. Yep, it so wasn't her problem right now. Three humans, an older man with a peppered beard and hair to match with a much younger but older than her couple, a man with brown hair and a blonde hair woman were standing with their hands up in the air to show how defenseless they really are.

Two sentry guards she recognized as X-3's held their guns on them, waiting for one of the higher ups to take control of the situation. Whoever the humans were they must have rattled the sentries enough to warrant them a guarded escort to command. Max stepped forward and sent the sentries back to duty while deciding that she would have Luke or Dix to call up Logan and pawn them off on him.

At least that was the plan until Alec showed up, hiding a yawn behind his hand and practically caused the older man to lose all color in his face and the younger man start violently before paling. The woman stared at him with her mouth open.

She gave Alec a _this-is-your-fault-I-know-it_ look and kissed the rest of her early morning goodbye. He had an unnatural talent in messing up her life with his problems. So far, she had yet to find a defense against it.

"All right, everyone not on shift clear out," Max ordered. When there was a slow withdraw she added. "Unless some of you would like to volunteer overtime?" There was a rush for the exits. Max reached out for Alec. "You. Stay."

"Aw Max!" Alec grumbled sulkily. "It's not my turn to deal with alarms. Let me go."

"Not likely as seeing this mess has your name written all over it and I have to clean it up." Alec frowned and took a good look at the trio that were still staring at him and back to Max. She sighed as she has known Alec enough to know that he didn't recognize them.

"This isn't my mess." Alec muttered finally. "I don't _even_ know them."

"Is he okay?" A soft deep voice asked. Max turned to see that Joshua had shown up at some point. He was asking about the older man, who seemed to be uneasy on his feet.

"It's been a-" the younger man said, staring at the tall dog, _man?_, person who asked. Max felt her hackles rise before he started as the woman standing next to him elbowed him in the side. "I'm sorry I didn't mean to be rude." he said to Joshua and Max felt her shoulder ease a bit. Alec felt a smug smile on his lips as he felt the tension leave her. She was so touchy sometimes. "It's been kinda of a shock to him, to us-"

"Yeah, seeing monsters close up tend to do that to normals." another voice said from above them. Mole had made his arrival with his shotgun slung over his shoulder and a cigar in his mouth. He made his way to the stairs and started coming down.

"Oh...uh, it's not that exactly-"

"Take a seat." Max said gesturing to a chair and the older man sank down into it gratefully. The woman was behind him, putting her hands on his shoulders, rubbing slightly. Max waited impatiently for them to give her something, anything to why they were in the middle of Terminal City, how they've gotten here and most importantly, what they wanted.

"I'm Sam Winchester." the younger man said finally, deliberately holding his hand out to Mole. Mole stared at him before laughing loudly and shook it. "This is my wife Jessica and my father John." The blonde gave them a smile and the older man took his eyes off of Alec to look around at the rest of the room.

"Why are you here?" Max asked. Sam and Jessica looked at each other and Sam shrugged out of the backpack he had on and moved over to the table near John and unzipped the bag. Max fell into a defensive position and Alec fell in line with her. In fact the whole room did and the tension in the air rose considerably. Sam withdrew a somewhat thick folder and they all relaxed.

Silently, he flipped the folder open and started removing what was inside, laying them down on the table in a row so all could see. They were pictures. Once he was done, he stepped back to stand next to John and waited. Max stepped up to the table and stared down at the pictures. Her eyes flicked up to Alec, down to the pictures then back again. Joshua and Mole where doing the same she noticed while Alec just stared.

"What the hell is this?" he demanded, his eyes narrowing as he stared up at Sam.

"That picture is of you-" Sam started.

"Yeah. I **_do_** recognize myself. And that other picture is me too right but with a really horrible photo enhancement? You know I can hook you up with people who can do a much better job than that."

"No." Sam shook his head. Alec growled in frustration when he didn't continue. Max felt like doing the same.

"The other picture is of my oldest son Dean." John spoke up, his voice heavy. "Twenty-one years ago he was on a job and vanished. We searched for years but could never find him. And then a couple of days ago, I got a call from a friend of mine, someone I had help with the search and he gave me this file. Everything indicates that he was taken by a military organization." John's voice, though low but could be heard by their advanced hearing was losing strength as he continued. "It didn't have an official designation back then." His eyes rose and met with Max's. "About five years after he was taken, they were given the official designation of Manticore."

* * *

_**AN:** Ta Da! New chapter!_

_Don't worry, if you're wondering about the time skip, some of it will be explained in the next chapter, I promise. I know many of you were wondering when we got to see Alec and Max and here they are! _


	5. Author's Note

_**Author's Note:**_

_**I know everyone is looking** **forward to a new chapter. I know what you're feeling because I'm looking forward to it too. But it's not quite done yet because I had another re-rewrite. It sucks really bad. So to ease the withdrawls, I'm giving you a peek into the next chapter where things are starting to roll.**_

_**Also, I would like everyone to go vote on the Poll I have on my Profile page. The top three stories will be updated more often than the rest so if you want more chapters of It's in the Blood, let me know!**_

_**And, I would like to thank all of you who have dropped me a PM, or followed and favorited this story in the last couple of months. And a HUGE thank you to all of the regular readers who have stuck around.**_

_**Okay, on to the excerpt.**_

* * *

**Chapter 5: Hell's Bells**

She wasn't sure what drew her to Alec's room after the meeting. She could hear the buzz making its ways around the city even though it was supposed to be on the downlow. She wanted to go and nip it in the bud but after thinking it over, decided it wasn't really worth it. It was going to come out sooner or later that one of their own had found its point zero.

Alec wasn't just cooked up in some petridish and pushed out of a surrogate.

He had actual blood ties to someone out there.

A family.

Max swallowed the bitterness at the back of her throat.

Ben had a family.

In Manticore, he used to talk about having a family that he was a part of. That he had dreams where they fought against nomlies and that if they knew about him, that they would for him. And he would take all of them with him. They would be heroes out in the world and not just soldiers.

Zack had to put his foot down, rather harshly she thought at the time, but realized now that he was only trying to keep Ben safe from Lydecker. If Lydecker ever found out that one of his soldiers was talking about having a family outside of Manticore, then he would have made an example out of that soldier. He would have done in in front of the whole unit too, to keep them in line.

After the reprimand from Zack, Ben never talked about it again. He distanced himself from the unit in a way that though he still remained a vital part of the unit, he didn't share himself as much. Something had changed. It was never the same between them.

She wondered if Ben ever tried to look for his so called family after he escaped but quickly moved on. She had too many other things to think about right now. Like how did the Winchesters fit into this whole Manticore scheme.

She had stayed behind and talked with Joshua for a while. Trying to assure him that she didn't believe that 'Father' would have anything to do with kidnapping people even while she thought it quite possible that he _had_been involved.

At least on some level he had to have been involved. The technology and the idea had to have come from _some_where after all and most of the military that she'd been exposed to wouldn't have had the brains to come up with it by themselves. They merely had the guns, muscles and funding to push pass the lines that hindered them and their plans of military superiority.

She walked though the open door of Alec's apartment and headed towards the back of the apartment where his bedroom is. It was one of the nicer ones, not quite like the one he had outside in Seattle but close enough. At least his had all its windows intact and running water though they were still working on the heater. It was close to HQ and had four possible escape routes in case of an attack.

"Josh okay?" Alec was sitting on his bed, flipping through the file again and it was telling that she'd been so distracted by Joshua that she hadn't even noticed that he'd walked off with it.

"He's fine." Max stood there, arms crossed over her chest and waited for Alec to look up at her. To acknowledge her presence in some way.

She'd just started tapping her foot and her lips were turning down into a scowl when he finally looked up at her.

"You need an invite or something Maxie?" he smirked at her and she rolled her eyes at him, walking over to the bed. She sat on the edge and snatched the folder from his hands.

"Hey, I was looking at that." he scowled at her, rammed an elbow into her side and that was a clear indication that he was raring for a fight. Which she didn't give him because she'd just noticed that the folder had been opened to the pictures of Dean Winchester and she looked over at him in confusion.

He shrugged, looked slightly embarrassed then grabbed the folder back.

"He's like my father or something right? I thought maybe we could use the 'family resemblance' to see if the local cops would give us something to work with."

Max gave him her best _'you are the dumbest idiot that I have ever come in contact with and I hope that you're not contagious because that doesn't bode well for the rest of us' _and snorted. "Alec you're a known X5, you walk outside the gate and you'll have the military gunning for your ass before you draw a breath. Not to mention what White and his pals would do if they got their hands on you."

"Well White would probably just kill me, but Max, the military? I could so take them and I'm wounded that you doubt my abilities to do so."

She rolled her eyes at the pout and the wounded expression. 99.9% of the time they were just Alec's way of attempting to coax her to let him do something that was totally dangerous and would most likely endanger him, her and the welfare of their people.

"Just don't get caught."

She could understand what he was getting to. After all, she had spent years looking for her family. Might as well give him a chance to look for his.


	6. Chapter 5

**Chapter 5: Hell's Bells**

* * *

**AN:** Here it is! Thank you all for waiting-there will be a longer **AN** at the end of the story.

* * *

It's raining outside. That's not unusual in Seattle. It rains for days, sometimes weeks at a time with brief minute breaks between one cycle to another.

What is unusual is the oddities of storms coming into the Seattle metropolitan over the next few hours. Two different storm systems are headed their way to join with the one already in the city. One is filled with violent lighting and winds coming from the southeast, another with a freezing temperature and fog coming from the northern coast. Within two day's time, the city will be the epicenter of a major storm system the likes this city has never seen before.

This is a omen of sorts and those in the know can't figure out what it means. Several hunters are already packing to make a move on the city, among those the Fitzgerald's from Missouri and the Harvelle's from Nebraska. Both families have been in contact with Bobby Singer who has been in recent contact with Jessica Winchester.

Everyone is hoping for the best but with signs like these, there's no question that something big is about to happen. This is a clash which the world hasn't seen in over two thousand years.

* * *

Elsewhere, another type of clash of sorts is happening. Two worlds that are so far apart that it should be inconceivable that they should meet and yet they are intimately intertwined through the existence of a man born from military science.

This one promises to change the lives of everyone and not just the ones directly involved.

"This can't be right," Alec said it again. For the sixtieth time or so, he'd lost count after the first half a dozen times since Max had taken control of the situation. She had Dalton take the Winchesters to rest since it looked like the old man was about to kneel over. Not to mention, he was making Alec uncomfortable with all the staring and whatnot.

"The files appear to be genuine," Joshua brushed his hair back from his face, glancing up at Max who was hovering over his shoulder staring down at the same files that Joshua had been perusing. He sat in a chair at the table where the files the Winchesters had brought laid spread out.

"Well still," he grumbled.

"Dean Winchester wasn't the only human to be taken, there were six other humans that were taken as well." Joshua flipped through the rest of the folder. A series of photos were taped to the last page and he flipped through them. Four of them were of people that he didn't recognize in the slightest, possibly their clones had never made it to maturity? But the final three. Dean and-

"Fuck," Zack closed his eyes and oh yeah, Alec could commiserate.

"William Anderson," Max read the tag under the picture and then looked back at Zack.

"Any information in there about him?" Zack asked quietly. Max shook her head.

"The file appears to be information gathered on Dean Winchester, probably for his family. It looks like the pictures were just added as a side bar, maybe leads to investigate?"

Alec reached forward and snagged the picture of Biggs, no, Kyle Hanson, from Josh's file to get a better look at it. The man was much older with a three-day beard growth and a permanent scowl on his face, not like the always cheerful cocky soldier he knew in Manticore or the friend he knew outside. He let out a frustrated growl and dropped the photo on the table.

Joshua left the folder open to that page and pushed away from the table, prowling the room restlessly. Alec wondered why he was the one filled with restless energy when Alec (and Zack) had been the ones told they'd been cloned from real live people instead of just matter.

"Do you think they're still alive?" Mole asked around his cigar. Chewing on the end, shotgun resting against his shoulder.

"The folder seems to indicate that they are," Max waved at the table and then perched on it. Feet dangling as she leaned back.

"Father would not have agreed to this," Joshua said emphatically, hand gestures punctuating the words. And Alec realized why Joshua was so restless, agitated.

"He might not have had any choice," Zack leaned against the table beside Max. Glancing back at the picture that was not of him again.

"Taking people from their families, Father would not be part of this."

"And Zack's right, he might not have had any choice," Max stared at Alec. He squirmed and wondered if she was trying to see that other guy, Dean, in him.

"And he might have been long gone by the time they made the decision to start snatching people off the street, we know he left the Breeding cult, we know he left Manticore. What's to say that after he left whoever Lydecker took his orders from didn't decide to stop using dead people and start looking for people that were already soldiers. Warriors," Alec said softly.

Max stared at him, their eyes locked together until Mole cleared his throat. "What are we gonna do with the normals?"

"Leave them for now; we'll want to talk to them again." Alec said to Mole. He really didn't want to deal with them right now, didn't want to them to see him as this Dean guy. He had finally broken it through to Zack that he wasn't Ben, he didn't need someone(s) seeing him as someone else.

"They're gonna want to try and rescue their boy." Max smiled grimly. "And if we can help them without getting ourselves killed, we'll probably end up helping them."

* * *

Jessica never got used to the sight of blood. For a while, at the beginning, she'd tried to clean the t-shirts and jeans that had gotten blood on them. Sam had told her not to a few times before he'd stopped. Maybe he knew that the fact that blood didn't come out was something that she needed to learn for herself. And it didn't, she could scrub and scrub until her fingers bled themselves but the stains remained resiliently locked into the material.

Finally she'd given up and did what Sam and John have always done. She tossed her bloody t-shirts into the fires, the jeans too if they needed to be destroyed. She would buy the cheap fifteen dollar jeans four at a time and the t-shirts in packs of four whenever they passed a Wal-Mart or a K-Mart or a Target. She packed her surviving fifty dollars jeans into a duffel bag and forgot about them.

She found them again in the bottom of her bag when she was dumping it out on the bed. The little room they'd been shown to had a dresser and even if they were only allowed to stay a few days before they got kicked out, she liked the thought of having to take clothes from drawers instead of digging through her bag for them.

She held the jeans in her hands, turning them over before she allowed them to uncurl in front of her. The legs were stiff, the creases were dark and Sam laughed from the doorway drawing her attention.

"I used to love seeing you in those jeans," he smiled softly, leaning against the doorway.

"I probably couldn't even get them over my hips," she said morosely. She'd loved them too, she felt sexy and confident in them. And she liked the way Sam looked at her when she wore them. Like she was his universe. She stared down at them and felt tears pricking her eyes, for no reason that she could discern other than they were so close to Dean and suddenly the years that they'd spent searching for him were weighing on her.

"You are still beautiful to me," he touched her face softly and she looked up in surprise, dropping her arms. She hadn't even heard him move from the doorway. "You will always be."

She smiled at him, let him cup her cheek and kiss her softly on the lips. Let him lie to her because she certainly wasn't the eighteen year old girl that she'd been when they'd met and she hadn't fit into those jeans in years. It's a wonder she still had them at all but then she remembered the urgent packing and grabbing the first duffel bag she saw in their closet at home after John's call.

"How's Dad?"

"He's resting, this has all been…" Sam shook his head. Turned away with his hands resting on his hips.

"Sam?" She bit her lip, tossed the jeans on the bed and walked over to him. Wrapping her arms around his waist and resting her cheek against his back. Smiling when Sam raised his hands to intertwine their fingers together.

"He just looks so much like Dean, and the attitude…" Sam laughed harshly. "That's all Dean. All cocky confidence and self-assurance. I don't think that I ever saw Dean face a situation that he couldn't charm the hell out of."

"We'll find him," Jess promised. Sam bowed his head, looking out the dingy streaked window of their room, lost in thought. "Dad is already thinking of this kid like he's a grandson or something, because he's made from Dean's DNA."

"You have a problem with that?"

"No," Sam shook his head. "I just think that Dean might have a problem with it, with Dad just accepting this kid like he's one of us. And-I don't think the kid will appreciate being compared to Dean, being compared to anyone much less being told what to do. He's a transgentic. His life is hard enough as it is being labeled as a freak, some monster created by the government and being hunted and persecuted by everyone."

"That's so unlike you Sam." Jess commented. "Labeling people like that."

"I'm not, really I'm not." Sam replied, looking over his shoulder at Jess, catching her eyes. "I don't see anything wrong with them. I can't say anything against them, not with what I know I carry inside me. Not with what I can do if I-"Jess tightened her arms around him. "Jess, I've done things. You've seen me-"

"And I brought you back. Every time, I brought you back" Jess didn't like where this conversation is taking them. "And we'll find Dean and bring him home too."

"And what about the kid below?" Sam asked. "He won't leave his friends. Dad won't leave him behind. He's someone important here. We can't drag him into our lives, into the danger and mess that is what we do. He's not a hunter."

"But he is a Winchester. Maybe not through name but blood." Jess stood on her tip toes and pressed a kiss to Sam's cheek. "We owe him an explanation at the very least."

"He'll think we're crazy." Sam pointed out. "Demons and ghosts? Monsters from fairytales and trickers of legend? That will end well."

"Like secret government experiments to create super soldiers from animal DNA is any less likely?"

"You got me there."

Jess laughed and let go of Sam. "You worry too much ."

"And you don't worry enough ." Sam shot back with a smile, watching as she walked to the dresser to put their clothes away.

"Then it's a good thing we even each other out."

* * *

She wasn't sure what drew her to Alec's room after the meeting. She could hear the buzz making its ways around the city even though it was supposed to be on the down low. She wanted to go and nip it in the bud but after thinking it over, decided it wasn't really worth it. It was going to come out sooner or later that one of their own had found its point zero.

Alec wasn't just cooked up in some petridish and pushed out of a surrogate.

He had actual blood ties to someone out there.

A family.

Max swallowed the bitterness at the back of her throat.

_Ben had a family._

In Manticore, he used to talk about having a family that he was a part of. That he had dreams where they fought against 'nomlies and that if they knew about him, that they would come for him. And he would take all of them with him. They would be heroes out in the world and not just soldiers.

Zack had to put his foot down, rather harshly she thought at the time, but realized now that he was only trying to keep Ben safe from Lydecker. If Lydecker ever found out that one of his soldiers was talking about having a family outside of Manticore, then he would have made an example out of that soldier. He would have done it in front of the whole unit too, to keep them in line.

After the reprimand from Zack, Ben never talked about it again. He distanced himself from the unit in a way that though he still remained a vital part of the unit, he didn't share himself as much. Something had changed. It was never the same between them.

She wondered if Ben ever tried to look for his so-called family after he escaped but quickly moved on. She had too many other things to think about right now. Like how did the Winchesters fit into this whole Manticore scheme.

She had stayed behind and talked with Joshua for a while. Trying to assure him that she didn't believe that 'Father' would have anything to do with kidnapping people even while she thought it quite possible that he had been involved.

At least on some level he had to have been involved. The technology and the idea had to have come from somewhere after all and most of the military that she'd been exposed to wouldn't have had the brains to come up with it by themselves. They merely had the guns, muscles and funding to push pass the lines that hindered them and their plans of military superiority.

She walked though the open door of Alec's apartment and headed towards the back of the apartment where his bedroom is. It was one of the nicer ones, not quite like the one he had outside in Seattle but close enough. At least his had all its windows intact and running water though they were still working on the heater. It was close to HQ and had four possible escape routes in case of an attack.

"Josh okay?" Alec was sitting on his bed, flipping through the file again and it was telling that she'd been so distracted by Joshua that she hadn't even noticed that he'd walked off with it.

"He's fine." Max stood there, arms crossed over her chest and waited for Alec to look up at her. To acknowledge her presence in some way.

She'd just started tapping her foot and her lips were turning down into a scowl when he finally looked up at her.

"You need an invite or something Maxie?" he smirked at her and she rolled her eyes at him, walking over to the bed. She sat on the edge and snatched the folder from his hands.

"Hey, I was looking at that." he scowled at her, rammed an elbow into her side and that was a clear indication that he was raring for a fight. Which she didn't give him because she'd just noticed that the folder had been opened to the pictures of Dean Winchester and she looked over at him in confusion.

He shrugged, looked slightly embarrassed then grabbed the folder back.

"He's like my father or something right? I thought maybe we could use the 'family resemblance' to see if the local cops would give us something to work with."

Max gave him her best _'you are the dumbest idiot that I have ever come in contact with and I hope that you're not contagious because that doesn't bode well for the rest of us' _and snorted. "Alec you're a known X5, you walk outside the gate and you'll have the military gunning for your ass before you draw a breath. Not to mention what White and his pals would do if they got their hands on you."

"Well White would probably just kill me, but Max, the military? I could so take them and I'm wounded that you doubt my abilities to do so."

She rolled her eyes at the pout and the wounded expression. 99.9% of the time they were just Alec's way of attempting to coax her to let him do something that was totally dangerous and would most likely endanger him, her and the welfare of their people.

"Just don't get caught."

She could understand what he was getting to. After all, she had spent years looking for her family. Might as well give him a chance to look for his.

* * *

Atop of the Space Needle, two men stand side by side, watching the storm approach from the southwest as the current storm unleashed its torrent on them already, it didn't bother them.

After all, what was a little rain after what they've been through.

"He doesn't seem very pleased." the dark-haired man with blue eyes reported matter-of-factly.

"Of course not. I've sent his big brother packing." the other man with light brown hair and green eyes looked over at his companion. "You don't care."

"I share a more profound bond with you than my older brother." There was a pause as a series of lighting strikes lit up the clouds in the distance. "Still, I am rather confused on what you plan on doing now that you're free Dean."

"What I've always done Cas." Dean said with a smile. "I have work to do and you're helping."

There was a flutter of wings and both men are gone.

* * *

_**Author's Note: Dun dun duunnn! WTF was that?! LOL-okay now that a new chapter is up and I just left a HUUGE Cliffhanger on the end, here's hoping that I will get the next chapter up and posted in less than six months...(*dodges sharp objects thrown her way* just kidding! I plan on having it up sooner) **_

_**Here are some replies to reviews:**_

_**Colonelengle:**__ Yes, I do have more, a lot more cuz now it's getting interesting. Thank you!_

_**Kitsune1818:**__ I am continuing and hoping for a shorter hiatus (or not one at all). Thank you!_

_**avirt78:**__ I'm happy that you're happy. Hope the wait wasn't too long (though it was too long) Thank you!_

_**SupernaturaCheetahFast:**__ Glad you like it! Thank you for reviewing!_

_**ankellysaurus:**__ The time jump was important. If this chapter didn't show why, then the next one will. Thank you so much for your kind review!_

_**Debra N**__: I have more chapters coming soon. Did you like the lil surprise at the end?_

_**timetowaste247**__: Firstly, Thank you for you in-depth review! I love long reviews. I hope you like the Sam POV in this chapter (sorry no John but next chapter will) and Jess' POV as well. I do have plans for Lydecker but that won't be for a while. And I plan of explaining more about the test subjects later on, maybe a hint of it in the next chapter. _

_**Pictures: **__Hopefully I lived up with your expectations..especially at the end. Sorry there wasn't much (or at all) of interactions between Dark Angel or Supernatural characters but there will be plenty next chapter. Thank you!_

_**Wunjo:**__ I totally updated with a new longer chapter this time! A full one and not just a little excerpt. Thank you!_

_**BranchSuper: **__There are a few SPN/DA crossovers that I love but aren't updated anymore. Tis sad. Thank you though for staying with mine. Also thanks for voting! I plan on more interactions between character next chapter. And we'll learn more about Dean and Jimmy *cough* next time._

_** .5**__: Thank you for reviewing! _

_**blackamethyst923:**__ I loved your PM! I will do my best to keep a short posting schedule now that I have more time to do what I love (which is writing) So please, stay on with this story. I promise it will be worth it and you won't be disappointed! Thank you for lengthy review!_

_**To all my followers and reviewers, new and old, Thanks! and Thanks Again!**_

_**See ya!**_


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